How it works?

You can start a private conversation with any of your followers who in turn can also invite any of their followers. Here is a handy outline from Twitter’s official announcement:

Key Takeways:

You can add any follower to the Group DM, who in turn can add any of their own followers (a potential problem – see GroupTweet Advantage #1 below).

Group DM’s are limited to 50 people.

Currently, third party developers have no access to Group DM functionality. This means if you use Tweetbot, Hootsuite, or any other non official Twitter client, it may not work for you at all.

I’m optimistic that Twitter’s native Group DM functionality will educate the masses on the possibilities of Twitter Group DM’s which will ultimately lead to “power users” looking to GroupTweet to provide a more “full featured” group DM experience.

How can GroupTweet Improve the Twitter Group DM Experience?

The newly announced native Group DM functionality will work great for more impromptu or ephemeral group DM conversations. However, if you find yourself continually wanting to privately communicate with the same group of individuals on a repeated basis, then you will definitely want to give GroupTweet a try. GroupTweet is the only real way to setup a permanent Group DM conversation channel. For example, you can setup a private GroupTweet Group DM account with your co-workers, classmates, family, etc. Think of it as your own private Twitter based message board instead of having to initiate a new group message thread each time..

What are the Advantages of Permanent GroupTweet Group DM Account?

Full control over who is included the the Group DM – Twitter’s native functionality allows any group member to invite anyone else into the conversation. With GroupTweet, the group admin(s) have full control over who is allowed in the group, who has posting privileges, and even can limit certain group members to read-only access.

Granular Access Permissions – With Twitter Group DM’s, anyone in the group can send messages to everyone else in the group. This can lead to “reply-all” spam and annoyance for group members. With GroupTweet, the private group admin can decide exactly which group members can post messages and which group members have read-only access.

No limit on number of group members – Twitter’s native Group DM limit is 50 people. With GroupTweet, you can add thousands of group members if desired.

Your GroupTweet Group DM account is permanent (until you delete it if desired) – You don’t have to figure out which new users to add each time you initiate a new Group DM thread. Set it and forget it. Of course, you can always add/remove group members if needed.

Never lose your messages – Twitter will only display your 100 most recent DM conversations. Meaning old messages can be discarded and lost forever.

Full search and data export – Twitter offers no search functionality for your Twitter DMs. With GroupTweet you can search and view every old message as well as download/archive all old messages.

No need for your group members to follow each other – Twitter’s native Group DM functionality requires each group member to either follow each other or be “friends of friends.” With GroupTweet, any Twitter member can decide to join the group if invited/accepted by the group admin. For example, if you setup a GroupTweeet Group DM with a bunch of coworkers or classmates, each member of the group does not need to follow each other. With Twitter’s native Group DM, you have to be a follower of whoever is inviting you into the Group DM.

You get all the advantages of a full fledged Twitter account – Things like Twitter analytics, GroupTweet contributor analytics (see which members are participating and sending the best Tweets), downloading your full message history, linkable messages.

Customizable notifications – with Twitter’s native Group DM, you will receive a notification for each and every Group DM you receive. This could get very annoying and overwhelming! With GroupTweet GroupDM you can turn on mobile notifications for specific groups or leave them off and just have the messages appear like normal in your standard home timeline. Additionally, with GroupTweet Group DM, you can simply visit your private group page at anytime to catch up on any messages you missed throughout the day.

Works with every third party Twitter client – If you try and start a Group DM with your friends that are using Tweetbot, Hootsuite, or any other third party twitter client, they won’t ever receive the message.

Other GroupTweet only features – Message Moderation (imagine a Teacher wanting to start a Group DM with his/her class but wanting to be able to approve messages before they are sent out) and Smart Scheduling which allows your group messages only to be sent out during pre-defined “Tweeting Hours” as well as spreading out messages throughout the day so you don’t overwhelm your group members with too many Tweets in a short period of time.

Want to Give a GroupTweet Group DM account a Spin?

We’ve created a demo GroupTweet group DM account for you to test and see how it works. Simply follow the instructions here to try it out with our demo account: GroupTweet.com/GroupDM. You simply send a Twitter DM to the @GroupDMdemo account and then it will be privately Tweeted to all approved followers of that private account.

Any Questions or Feedback?

How could GroupTweet improve the Twitter Group DM experience for you?

GroupTweet Group DM accounts can be used in so many different ways. Its a flexible tool that can be used both privately and publicly (if desired). Don’t hesitate to ask a questions in the comments below or you can email groupdm@grouptweet.com with any other questions!